Irish wholesale electricity prices climbed by 19.2 per cent last month compared to February, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Tuesday, confirming previously released industry figures that underlined the extent of the global energy price shock caused by the US-Israel attack on Iran.
However, the wholesale price of electricity – the price that energy retailers like Electric Ireland, Energia, and others pay electricity generators for energy before selling it on to households and businesses – remained 2.4 per cent lower than in March 2025.
It was also 66.8 per cent lower than the peak that occurred in August 2022, the CSO said, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier that year.
The CSO data confirms the details of figures published by Wind Energy Ireland earlier this month, which revealed a 19 per cent spike in wholesale electricity prices between February and March.
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The figures showed that the average wholesale price in March was €128.77 per megawatt-hour of electricity, up from €107.97 in the previous month.
Ireland relies on imported natural gas for about half its energy needs and is therefore highly exposed to turmoil on international energy markets.
European gas prices began to rise sharply at the end of February as tensions rose before the US and Israeli attacks on Iran. On April 9th, prices were 45 per cent higher than they had been on February 27th.
The CSO said its wholesale price index for all energy products purchased by the manufacturing industry increased by 15.2 per cent between February and March, but was still 0.2 per cent lower than March 2025.
Overall, Irish factory gate prices were 0.2 per cent lower in March than the same month last year but were up 3.1 per cent from February.
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Chemical and chemical products prices were up 20.8 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March, the CSO said, while fabricated metal products increased by 4.6 per cent.
Producer prices for food products, meanwhile, were down 1.6 per cent from March 2025 but rose by 1 per cent from February.
Economists expect rising energy costs for farmers and food processors to add to food prices over the coming months.
Food price inflation has been one of the main engines of general consumer price inflation in the Irish economy over the past two years.
